What If? Cold Cyborg
by The Smiter
Summary: What if Sub-Zero had never evaded Sektor and was transformed by his clan as the other cyborgs had? 100 years after his conversion, the Lin Kuei rules Earthrealm, and Sub-Zero's past returns to haunt him as kombatants, old and new, challenge the Lin Kuei.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Mortal Kombat or any characters therein. If the guys who do are reading this, can I buy stock in Sub-Zero?

Prologue

'On your knees,' came the cold, metallic drone of a voice filtered through a cybernetic helmet.

Sub-Zero did not do so much as move his legs, defiantly staring at the floor.

'_On your knees!'_ came the command again, this accompanied by a sharp strike to the back of his legs. The blue-clad Lin Kuei warrior dropped suddenly to the ground, his shoulders angled downward to keep his head bowed. He was held in this position by two pairs of strong robotic hands. Raising his head as best he could, through the gloom of the throne room he could see the seated form of the Lin Kuei Grandmaster, resplendent in his crimson robes. Expressionless eyes peered at Sub-Zero over the matching mask that covered the lower half of the Grandmaster's face. In the past, this dead gaze would have intimidated Sub-Zero, but any chances of that had disappeared with Sub-Zero's respect for the man seated in front of him. All he felt towards the Grandmaster now was loathing and disbelieving anger.

'Well now, Sub-Zero,' the Grandmaster intoned in his deep voice, which echoed around the room, like a coffin lid closing, 'you have certainly led us on quite the merry chase, haven't you?'

Sub-Zero did not reply. He refused to give his former master the satisfaction.

'I must admit, I was beginning to grow concerned when Cyrax returned without being able to track you down. But, fortunately for us, we had the perfect informant that was able to direct Sektor directly to you.' The Grandmaster smiled behind his mask. 'I believe you two have met before?'

A dark shape materialised out of the shadows next to the Grandmaster. Clad in similar cybernetic armour to the two whom held Sub-Zero down, bar that it was ashen grey compared to Sektor's crimson and Cyrax's yellow, the newcomer nonetheless carried himself in a manner that Sub-Zero could not mistake.

'Smoke!' he gasped.

The grey clad assassin had been Sub-Zero's companion in escaping the Lin Kuei. When the two had discovered how the Grandmaster intended to turn the clan members into cyborg warriors, they had chosen to flee rather than become the soulless automatons their master wished them to be. Unfortunately they had underestimated their former comrades' new cybernetic bodies, as Sektor and Cyrax had swiftly followed after them. During the ensuing fight, the two escapees had become separated; Sub-Zero had been able to escape, while Smoke had not been so lucky. Sub-Zero had hoped that his friend had found some way to free himself, but it seemed he had not been so lucky.

'Smoke…why…?' Sub-Zero asked, stunned that his friend would have told the Lin Kuei how to find him.

The cyborg before him did not answer, simply staring down at Sub-Zero wordlessly.

'Smoke, speak to me!' Sub-Zero said desperately, hoping for some kind of reaction.

'Don't waste your time,' the Grandmaster interrupted. 'He doesn't see you as you were anymore. Now you are nothing more than a target that he was set to hunt.'

'What have you done to him? Smoke would never willingly betray me to a monster like you!' Sub-Zero snarled at him.

The Grandmaster stiffened slightly at the insult but maintained his composure. 'Granted it was no easy task. He was resistant to our process of changing him into a higher being, and he did not wish to tell us where you might be. It took time, but after some tinkering with his mind and completely wiping his brain of emotion, he obeyed every order without question.'

Sub-Zero attempted to summon his cryomancer powers to himself. If he could just break free of Sektor and Cyrax and get his hands on the Grandmaster, he could turn the Lin Kuei leader into a statue of ice and shatter him to pieces.

Before he could even form an icy corona around his hands, Smoke stepped forward and dealt a backhanded blow across Sub-Zero's face with a closed fist. The metal glove impacted with Sub-Zero's lower jaw and he tasted the salty tang of his own blood.

'Hostile actions will result in retaliation. Cease and desist,' Smoke said in a deadpan automaton voice that was no longer his own.

Sub-Zero looked up, panting in a combination of pain and gripping sadness, realising that the warrior that had struck him would never again be his friend. Ever since Sub-Zero's elder brother had disappeared, Smoke had been the only one there for him in the Lin Kuei clan. Now there was nothing left for him.

'What do you want with me?' he asked, his voice quivering.

'You already know what I want,' the Grandmaster answered. 'Your loyalty, your undying fealty to the Lin Kuei is what I want. Become one of my superior warriors, serve me as you once did before.' He rose from his throne and approached Sub-Zero, kneeling down so that he could whisper in his ear. 'It can all go away. All the pain, all the loss, all the agonising memory; I can rid you of all that. I can remake you; reshape you into one of the most powerful warriors this world has ever seen. Give in to me, and I will bring you new life.' The Grandmaster stood and looked down at his captive.

'What is your answer, Sub-Zero?'

He did not answer for a moment, and then looked up into the Grandmaster's eyes. 'I would sooner die than become one of your abominations, corrupt beast,' he said evenly. 'If this is what you would call new life, I choose death.'

The Grandmaster looked to the side, heaving a dramatic sigh. 'Oh my dear boy, such notions you have. The choice I gave you was not life or death.' He glared back at Sub-Zero coldly. 'The choice was whether or not you would accept life willingly.' He nodded at Smoke, who stepped forward and took hold of Sub-Zero in place of Sektor.

'Take him to the operation chamber,' the Grandmaster ordered. 'Begin the preparations for his transformation.'

Smoke and Cyrax nodded without a word and began to drag Sub-Zero out of the room. Struggling with all his might, he could not break free of their inhuman metal hands.

'You shall not have me, Grandmaster!' he shouted as he was taken out of sight. 'No matter what you do, however long it takes; I will be free of you! I swear it!'

The Grandmaster simply chuckled and dismissively turned his back.

'So troublesome,' he commented to Sektor. 'It seems we shall have to configure his mind more extensively than I first thought.'

'Yes, Grandmaster,' Sektor replied with a nod.

'Now then, Sektor,' the Grandmaster said, seating himself on his throne once more, 'we have something to discuss.' Steepling his fingers he continued. 'We were fortunate enough in this past Mortal Kombat tournament that the winner was an inhabitant of Earthrealm. However, this champion is unlikely to be one to plan an invasion of another realm. Therefore, it will be our duty to do so. Once the Lin Kuei has been reborn as the mightiest soldiers this realm has seen, we shall be the ones who shall instigate an invasion. And to do so successfully, we shall require a champion of our own, one who will be willing to continue as winner of the Mortal Kombat tournament, so that when the time for invasion has come, it will be the Lin Kuei that reign supreme.

'For one of our own to become champion, we will need to defeat the current champion in Mortal Kombat. Sektor,' the Grandmaster announced, 'I want you to hunt down and defeat Liu Kang.'

Sektor knelt before the throne. 'I am honoured that you would choose me for such a task, Grandmaster,' he said. 'However, once my mission to capture Sub-Zero was complete, I took the liberty of encoding my own new mission rather than wait for orders.'

The Grandmaster stood, outraged. 'How dare you! You are my creation, Sektor! You fight for me! It is my orders you follow!' He sneered down at the crimson-armoured cyborg. 'Just what exactly does this new mission of yours entail?'

Quicker than the Grandmaster could react, Sektor shot out his hand. Had Sektor been an ordinary man, the Grandmaster would have been able to counter his attack. But Sektor had been enhanced beyond human speed; the Grandmaster had performed the transformation himself. The irony was lost on him as the cyborg's hand penetrated his chest and clutched itself around his heart.

'Leadership of the Lin Kuei,' came Sektor's answer as he used his other hand to rip the dragon medallion that had long been a symbol of Lin Kuei Grandmasters from the neck of his own master. With a jerk of his wrist, Sektor crushed the man's heart inside his own body.

Leaving the spasming body of the former Grandmaster behind him, Sektor headed for the operation chamber. While the idea of invading other realms was tempting, Sektor felt content that conquering Earthrealm would require less effort and would suffice for now. In the meantime, there was a transformation to perform.

Behind the grill of his cybernetic helmet, Sektor smiled.


	2. Chapter 1: Trash Pickers

**Chapter 1: Trash Pickers**

_One hundred years later…_

'Cage, this is insane,' hissed Eric.

Curtis Cage flashed Eric a cocky grin that was unseen behind his full-face mask. 'Of course it is. If it wasn't, we wouldn't be doing it at all.'

'It's bad enough stealing from the Lin Kuei, but stealing from their R&D scrap pile? If we get caught –'

'We won't get caught,' cut in Christa. 'We've got Curt with us. He won't let anything happen to us.' The sixteen-year-old girl practically hero-worshiped the confident blonde-haired leader of the resistance. Cage was flattered by the attention, he enjoyed being the focus of everyone he knew, but he knew his boundaries.

'There you go, you heard her,' Cage said with a wink. 'Now keep it down, we don't want the sentries noticing us.'

Cage peered around the corner of the scrap yard complex, his masked face easily camouflaged in the darkness. The mask was more than a simple cloth covering; the interior had specially shaped pads that subtly altered the shape of the wearer's skull. With the advanced ability of the Lin Kuei's robotic sentries to scan the silhouette of anything they spotted, they could make identifications out of the regular public with surprising accuracy.

'I count five sentries,' he whispered. 'Standard cyborg class, nothing special.' He turned back to the others. 'Activate the diversion and be prepared to move. Figure we'll have about two minutes to get inside and out of sight before they get back up.'

Eric pulled out a small remote control with a single button on the face. Pressing the button, he swiftly clipped it onto a short length of rope and spun it like a bola, sending it flying off to the left side of the main entrance. Seven seconds later, the miniature device burst open with a high-frequency whine that caused the cyborg sentries to stagger as the pulse scrambled with their robotic brains.

'Go! Now!' ordered Cage, dashing around the corner, the others right behind him. Tapping stolen access codes furiously into the panel next to the door, the three rebels ducked inside the sliding doors and into the alcove behind as the sentries outside had their internal CPUs rebooted.

'Alright,' murmured Cage, 'the chute to the scrap pile is down this corridor, according to the map the techies dug up. It won't be much longer before they send more guards down here to see what the interference was, so let's move.'

'Curt,' said Christa as they jogged down the passageway, 'I didn't want to bring this up, but you were a bit vague about how we're supposed to get out after we slide down a garbage chute into an enclosed area with forty-foot high walls carrying our weight in stolen equipment.'

'Right, the escape plan,' said Cage. 'Don't worry about it, just keep your eyes on the skies.'

'We're going to be airlifted out of the pile?' said Eric. 'You mean you actually managed to steal a Lin Kuei cargo ship and found someone crazy enough to pilot it?'

'Of course not. You know it's impossible to steal one of their ships. And there's no way I'd ask someone to try and pilot it.'

'So you intend to have us airlifted out of the scrap pile with no plane and an imaginary pilot?' Eric said confused.

'Trust me, you're better off not knowing the details. Ah, here we go,' said Cage, pointing at a hatch on the wall. Locating the access panel, he tapped in the stolen codes. Unexpectedly, the panel lit up red.

'That's not good,' he commented unnecessarily.

'Why would the code not work?' asked Christa worriedly.

'They must have changed it after the sentries got zapped,' mused Eric. 'The Lin Kuei don't skimp on security.'

'Then we've got less time than I thought,' said Cage. 'Better revert to the old fashioned way of doing things.' Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself and drew back his fist. In a swift movement he brought his fist forward, striking the hatch door in the exact centre. A flash of green energy accompanied the impact as the door burst inwards, sending it clattering down the chute.

'Ladies first,' he said stepping aside with mock gallantry.

'Go on then, Eric,' Christa grinned.

'Har har,' said the third, but slid down the chute first anyway. Giving him a few seconds to reach the bottom, Christa followed with Cage bringing up the rear.

Landing hard on his feet, the leader could see the others were already digging through the pile of discarded technology. Ever since the Lin Kuei had become the sole world power, they had also become the only manufacturer of anything mechanical. Paranoid as they were, this meant there was a traceable beacon inside every piece of machinery on the street, making them unusable by the rebels. The only way to find the last components for their current project without them being tracked was to steal them from the one place with unmarked technology, namely the rejects.

'Got it, Cage!' called Eric from across the pile, holding up a shabby cube with a dull green transparent core.

'Great! Grab anything else you can see that could be helpful. Our ride should be here in a minute or two,' he called back, starting to snatch up junk himself.

'Freeze, trespassers!' came the voice of machine.

Whirling, Cage's eyes were greeted with the sight of a dozen Lin Kuei cyborg soldiers, arm mounted energy weapons aimed directly at him. They clearly considered him the primary threat.

'Drop the contraband,' the lead cyborg continued. 'Raise your hands in the air and get down on your knees.'

Cage obeyed the first and second orders, but instead of kneeling, he strode slowly closer towards the guards. Stopping only a few feet away from them, he assessed his position.

'Get down on your knees,' the leader repeated.

'Sorry, not going to happen,' Cage replied. Moving like a blur, he was on the leader in an instant and smashed its head into the ground. Situated as he was, the other cyborgs could not fire at him without shredding each other with their own lasers. Settling into a fighting stance, Cage allowed himself a quip.

'As my Gramma Sonya would have said, it's Kombat Time!'

The cyborgs barely had time to revert to their own close-combat programs before Cage began his assault. Implanting his fist in the chest of the closest, he ripped out the internal circuitry, using his arm's momentum to smash his elbow into the second. Gripping the next one's shoulders, he vaulted over the cyborg, grabbing the oncoming attacker and spinning it into the first. Taking out the next with an uppercut, the blow tearing off the head, Cage kicked another in the midriff, nearly splitting it in half. Gathering up his energy, he brought both hands forward, shattering the nearest guard, the shockwave of the impact ripped through the others behind it. The final two jumped onto Cage's shoulders in an attempt to bring him to floor, unsuccessfully. Bending to match their movement, Cage turned a somersault, planting both cyborgs on the ground before bringing his fists down on either side of him, shattering their faces. The entire fight had lasted mere minutes.

Standing up from the floor, Cage looked to the sky to see a bright light shining down from an approaching cargo flyer.

'Here's our ride guys!' he called to the others over the growing peal of the engines as three weighed cables dropped from the ship into the scrap yard. Eric and Christa grabbed two of them and began to rise into the air. Cage made for the third cable but was distracted as a whisper of metal against metal began to grow behind him. Not being able to help himself, Cage turned and looked.

A grey cloud of what looked almost like fog was beginning to pour forth from a small compartment to the left of the service door. As more and more of the mist began to appear, it took on a more solid shape, forming arms, legs and a torso. When the head began to take form, Cage recognised just what the mist was.

There was only one being amongst the Lin Kuei that was comprised of millions upon millions of nanobots.

Grabbing the remaining cable, Cage was lifted into the air seconds before the imposing figure of the cyborg called Smoke solidified and made a wild grab at his ankles. Hauling himself up the cable even as it was being reeled back into the ship, Cage looked down at a pair of glowing red eyes staring emotionlessly up from the scrap yard. Cage only let out his breath when the hatch on the ship closed and separated him from that penetrating gaze.

'Do you have a death wish?' gasped Eric, still recovering from climbing the cable. 'You just had to stay behind and watch the Lin Kuei's head enforcer come to life, didn't you?'

Cage pulled off his mask, shaking out his wavy blonde hair. Regaining his composure, he gave Eric another grin. 'Well, I had to make this mission seem a little more interesting, didn't I? Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have a word with our pilot.'

'You won't get much out of him, or her, or whoever it is,' Christa stated, removing her own mask to reveal her tanned Hispanic skin. 'There's not response over the intercom to the cockpit.'

'Like I said, you're better off not knowing the details,' Cage replied. Heading to the bow of the craft, he knocked twice on the sealed doors.

'Password,' came a distorted voice from the other side.

'Free will,' Cage enunciated clearly.

The doors slid open with a pneumatic hiss. The pilot seat turned to face Cage as he entered. Sitting in the seat was a yellow-armoured cybernetic warrior.

'Cutting it a little close this time, weren't you Cage?' said the pilot.

'Spare me the lecture, Cyrax. I already got it from the others,' Cage sighed, flopping into the co-pilot's seat.

The cyborg snorted, which sounded like a rush of static through his helmet and turned back to the controls. It had been over half a century since he had somehow rejected the Lin Kuei's programming and had gone into hiding. No-one quite knew how, but Cyrax had thrown off the influence of his implanted programmes and had sought help from the resistance to separate him from the interlink which connected him to the rest of the cyborg army. He was, in effect, dead to the Lin Kuei. This made him a valuable ally to the rebels, thanks to his knowledge of the Lin Kuei's movements and operating systems. However, only a select few members of the resistance knew of his association, to prevent doubt from spreading and keeping the information of Cyrax's involvement away from any questioning prisoners of the cyborgs were subject to.

'So, were you able to find one?' he asked.

'Affirmative,' Cage returned. 'It looks a bit worse for wear, but it should still be usable after the technicians give it a makeover. Anything happen while we were gone?'

If Cyrax's face could have been seen, his expression would have gone dark. 'I'm afraid so. Some of the newer members snuck out and decided to vandalise the vehicle production plant. They had no chance.'

Cage buried his face in his hands. 'Elder Gods, save us from the rookies.' Looking out the front screen he asked, 'Any survivors?'

'Just the one,' Cyrax replied.

'May death take him quickly,' Cage murmured, closing his eyes. He did not want to think of what was happening to that single survivor. The fate for rebels taken alive by the Lin Kuei ended in death, but what they were subject to before their lives were ended was far worse.

The idea of the Lin Kuei's torturer made Cage's blood run cold.


	3. Chapter 2: In Steel's Cold Grip

Chapter 2: In Steel's Cold Grip

The city that was once known as Hong Kong, a bustling centre of culture and industry, was now these days a collection of skyscrapers anything up to several hundred stories high and factories for any kind of foodstuff, vehicle or object. The modern machine that was the Lin Kuei had quashed any culture that had once existed. No longer a mere clan of secretive warriors, the cybernetic society was now the ruling power in every country of the world.

There had been resistance when they had emerged out of hiding; the countries of the world had brought all their weapons to bear, but it had been no match for the advanced technology the clan wielded. With an endless supply of robotic soldiers and warships, backed by the mysterious powers of their leaders, the Lin Kuei had overcome all obstacles within two decades.

Now humans were forced to live under the literal and figurative iron fist of the Lin Kuei, their way of life cornered and monitored all hours of the day by the cyborg enforcers. Misconduct was severely punished, rations were only fair enough to keep the population alive, and living conditions were bland and barely adequate. Many wondered why the eerie machine soldiers even bothered to keep the human population alive.

_The answer is simple: There is no satisfaction in ruling a world of pure machines, _Sektor mused reflectively.

Standing on the bridge of his personal command ship, the red-armoured Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei surveyed the city below. For nearly a hundred years, preserved by his cybernetic body, Sektor had been ruler of all he saw. He had ultimate power; he controlled the movement of every single being on the planet, and could end a life on a whim without question or hesitation.

And still, he was not content.

Sektor had come to realise why the previous Grandmaster had planned to invade other realms beyond their own. There was only so much satisfaction he could derive from controlling Earthrealm. Without fresh conquests, without the thrill of crushing new beings under his heel, Sektor had grown bored.

His one hope lay in the deal he had made so long ago. He had initially agreed to it in order to prevent any distractions from conquering Earthrealm, but now it was the light at the end of the tunnel that would give the Lin Kuei a new start in Outworld.

It had been so simple. As soon as he had heard the Emperor Shao Khan was planning a new invasion, Sektor had made contact with the Outworld ruler immediately. A Mortal Kombat tournament would have been too great a distraction to his plans of world domination, so Sektor struck a deal. Shao Khan was to hold off the tournament for one century, to give the Lin Kuei enough time to gain a proper foothold. In return, Sektor would present the strongest warriors of his new world to challenge Khan in the tournament, and a worthy adversary to face in the invasion. Knowing the warlord could not resist a challenge, Sektor had little doubt his plan would succeed.

And succeed it did. Shao Khan agreed to Sektor's proposal and withdrew his forces, allowing the Lin Kuei to establish their power unabated. Sektor had since put the idea of the tournament out of his mind, but now time was running out. The century was almost up, and Outworld would be prepared to invade.

And Sektor could barely contain his anticipation.

'Grandmaster,' said one of his aides, striding onto the bridge and kneeling behind Sektor. 'We have a new prisoner.'

Sektor turned to face him. The Grandmaster's elite guards were more than a few notches above the standard robotic soldiers, which were mass-produced for efficiency. The elite were former humans whom had willingly undergone similar cybernetic enhancements to Sektor himself. When it came to his personal guard, Sektor settled for only the best. If any attacker could defeat them, they deserved a chance to fight the Grandmaster himself.

'One of the rebels, I assume,' he said. No other kind of prisoner was of consequence to him.

'Indeed, my lord,' the aide replied. 'He is the only survivor of a group of vandals that struck at the manufacturing plants.'

'Hardly one of their upper-ranking officers, but we may yet wring some information out of him,' Sektor said, dismissively waving his hand and turning back to the bridge. 'Send him to the torture chamber.'

'There is more, Grandmaster,' the aide continued. 'There was also a breach of security at the Research & Development laboratory. Three rebels were able to reach the facility's scrap pile.'

Sektor turned again, faster this time. 'A breach? Was it dealt with appropriately?'

'Unfortunately not, my lord. All three escaped.'

'All three?' Sektor echoed. If he had still had a blood pressure, it would have begun to rise. 'Were our sentries unable to track them?'

'A single squad engaged them. Recordings show that one of the rebels was able to defeat them all unaided.'

'And what about Smoke? Was this rebel able to defeat him too?'

'No, my lord. The rebels escaped in a cargo ship before Lord Smoke was fully manifested on the scene.'

'They managed to steal one of our ships too?' Sektor had heard enough. 'When you take the prisoner to the torture chamber, let it be known that I want all the information regarding this breach that he has extracted within the next three hours. Dismissed.'

'At once, Grandmaster,' the aide said as he stood. Bowing, he left the bridge. Sektor consulted the control panel on his wrist, entering a complex code that only he and two others were privy to.

'Smoke, to the bridge,' he commanded.

At the sound of the order, a small hatch opened in the primary control area and a shimmering cloud of silver nanobots began to stream out, coalescing into the form of the imposing form of the cyborg Smoke. Despite appearing transparent and insubstantial save for his armour, the head security officer of the Lin Kuei was as real as any other soldier in the clan. His defining feature was that his consciousness no longer existed in a single body. Now inhabiting trillions upon trillions of nanobots spread out throughout hotspots around the world, Smoke was able to form a working body for himself at any of these points should the need arise. His master nanobots, which composed what could arguably be called his brain, were kept aboard Sektor's command ship, the securest place they could be, to ensure that his programming could not be compromised.

For all this power and security, Sektor was curious to know how three rebels had been able to elude Smoke's grasp.

'Perhaps you would care to explain to me how a mere handful of rebels were able to escape you?' the Grandmaster inquired evenly. Intimidation and anger would be lost on the emotionless Smoke.

'The threat of the lead rebel had been unascertained at the time of the breach,' came the reply, buzzing and echoing eerily as it came from the few hundred nanobots comprising Smoke's mask. 'My action seemed less than imperative until the security squad was neutralised.'

'And the rebel himself? How can a single man have the skill to defeat a dozen of our soldiers so easily?'

'Video feed from the security guards has detailed the rebel's style of combat. Analysing now…' Smoke was silent for a few seconds before blinking and speaking again. 'Combat style analysis complete. Scans show a mixed style drawing from Tae Kwon Do, Karate and Shorin-Ryu. Searching kombatant database for possible matches…' Smoke blinked again. 'Two potential matches found: Sonya Blade (deceased) and Jonathan Carlton aka "Johnny Cage" (deceased).'

Sektor recalled the names. The two kombatants had been killed in the last days of the Lin Kuei's assault against the rest of the world. Blade and Cage had been more likely to attack each other than the cyborg forces, but had proved a thorn in Sektor's side right up to the end of the war. He had taken particular delight in incinerating the woman slowly; she had had a way with dissidence incomparable to most.

So now it seemed there was someone equally versed in their combat styles sneaking into the development laboratories and destroying the sentries. Either there was someone trained by the kombatants themselves before they were killed, or…

Sektor turned on his heel and marched towards the torture chamber.

* * *

'You haven't started yet,' Sektor noticed. 'Good. I have a few new questions for our prisoner.'

The Lin Kuei torture chamber was kept at an even 8 degrees Centigrade at all times. For one, the cold kept the prisoners' skin contracted, keeping lacerations open for longer.

And second, the head torturer preferred cooler temperatures.

Stepping past the shadowy figure that was ruler of the frigid room, Sektor knelt down in front of the captured rebel that was chained to the floor by his wrists. Tilting the man's head up roughly, Sektor evaluated his face. He was young, barely still qualifying as a delinquent. His arrogance and impulsiveness had made him a prisoner, but now there was nothing but fear in his eyes.

'Do you know who I am, boy?' Sektor asked.

Shivering in the cold, he nodded as best he could with Sektor's hand clamped around his jaw.

'And do you know who else is in here with us?'

His eyes twitching to the figure in the shadows, the rebel nodded again, faster this time. The head torturer was infamous amongst the resistance.

'Then you know that there is no way you are leaving this room alive,' Sektor continued. It wasn't a question.

'S-so…why sh-should…I tell-l-l you…anyth-thing?' the rebel said, taking a chance stab at bravado.

Sektor felt a twinge of amusement. This one was brave for his age. 'Because you know that my subordinate here has more methods for torture than can fit within a week. Answer some particular questions, and I can make it so that you do not have to endure them.'

'W-what…questions?'

'Listen closely, I hate to repeat myself. Tell me: Are there any among your resistance that are descended from the fighters known as Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage?'

The rebel did not answer, keeping his lips shut tight, although he could not stop them from quivering.

Sektor released his grip on the boy's face. 'I won't try and extract an answer from you. That's not my job. Know that you could have earned yourself a quick and relatively painless death, but now you can only hold yourself responsible for the torture that is to follow.' Turning to the shadowed figure, Sektor said, 'I want a name, a location, and all other information about what the resistance is planning.'

Before leaving the chamber, Sektor turned again. 'Sub-Zero…take your time. We wouldn't want the fun to be over too quickly.'

The doors slid closed as the azure-armoured torturer reached for the chained rebel.


	4. Chapter 3: Rejected with a Sting

**Chapter 3: Rejected with a Sting**

The Lin Kuei cargo ship that carried the rebels flew out over the edges of the city limits to what had once been a recreational park. Time and industry had weathered the previously grassy area down to dusty earth and half-dead weeds. The remains of an outdoor cafeteria served as a target for Cage, Christa and Eric as they rappelled down to the ground, stolen machinery hanging heavily from their belts and bandoliers.

'Ah, home sweet home,' Cage sighed dramatically. 'Truly the palace of the Elder Gods cannot compare.'

'Yeah, I'm sure they can't compare to our stunning mixture of rust and termite atmosphere,' Eric commented dryly, pushing past into the structure.

'Have a bit of appreciation, Eric,' said Christa, following him in. 'It's not like the Lin Kuei gave us any better in the city, and soon we'll have our own back.'

'Assuming this plan will work. We're going on faith, and not even blind faith. All we have is some rumour that sprung up decades ago.'

'If it was good enough for Sonya Blade, it's good enough for me,' said Cage, reaching down and gripping an iron bar attached to a trapdoor in the floor. 'She may not have been a big believer, but she fought in Mortal Kombat tournaments, and those are definitely not of this world. Ergo, other worlds exist.'

With a deft pull, Cage opened the trapdoor with a rusted creak, revealing the tunnel beneath.

'And you're sure that you can find a way to travel to these other worlds?' Eric asked sceptically.

'Me? No way. That's the techies' job,' Cage replied, sliding down the hole.

With the constant monitoring that went on in the city centres, the only place the rebels could find to hide was both out of the city and out of sight. Digging down from the surface in various places beyond the city limits had revealed an abandoned subway system that had been discontinued after the Lin Kuei occupation and the introduction of their flying machinery. Quickly occupying as much of the tunnels as possible, the rebel community had expanded rapidly, turning the subway into a base of operations, a refugee shelter and an engineering facility. Now a lot of the citizens that had become disenchanted with the prospect of the city had fled underground, causing a lot of crowding problems, as the stolen food processing machines had trouble accounting for the sheer volume.

But the rebel leaders refused to turn away a single one of the several thousand refugees.

* * *

'Greetings and salutations, we have the jackpot!' Cage announced heartily as he marched into the operations laboratory.

Turning to face him were the other two leaders of the resistance: One an ebony-haired woman clad in revealing black and red leather, the other a lithe but muscular man with a half-face mask and ninja-style outfit that appeared to shift through spectrum colours constantly.

Had anyone enquired into the history of these two leaders, there would have been more than a little consternation amongst the rebels concerning the leaders' heritages. One was secretly a demon that had been trapped in the Netherrealm for the longest time before eventually escaping to Earthrealm, and the other was not human either, but a reptilian creature of a nearly extinct race who had come to Earthrealm in the wake of the last Mortal Kombat tournament.

Despite their initial misgivings, Sareena and Chameleon had been instrumental in assisting the rebel forces ever since being inducted into the resistance movement.

'Impressive, Cage,' Chameleon commented without enthusiasm. 'I had doubts that you would have had the ability to pass into the facility without drawing attention to yourself.'

'Ehh, yeah, about that…' Cage said hesitantly.

'You triggered the sentries, didn't you?' Sareena said, rolling her eyes. 'I knew it was a bad idea to send you and a couple of kids. Chameleon could have handled this on his own.'

'You know he's our ace in the hole,' Cage returned. 'If the Lin Kuei knew we had a fighter that could camouflage himself as well as Chameleon, they would step up security even further and we'd never see a new piece of machinery in this place.'

'Nevermind about that now,' Chameleon said. 'Did you at least find what we were looking for?'

'In that, I'm glad to say, I was successful,' Cage said with some dramatic sweeps of his hands. Unclipping the green-cored cube from his belt, he held it up for the others to see. 'One trans-dimensional energy power core, not-so-fresh from the scrap yard.'

Chameleon stepped forward and took the cube. 'This is it? This is what is going to help us breach through dimensions to find allies against the Lin Kuei?'

Cage just shrugged. 'If the techies say it'll work, who am I to doubt them?'

Chameleon snorted and took the cube over to a massive machine across the room. The device resembled a large metal ring large enough for several people to walk through, with complex consoles attached all around the edges. Technicians flocked around the machine, soldering and welding more pieces of technology to it in the hopes that it would work. One took the cube from Chameleon and placed it in the heart of the device, quickly running a diagnostic scanner over it.

'This core is usable,' he said, 'but it won't be powerful enough to send a person through to another realm.'

'Could we at least send a recording through?' Sareena asked. 'If we can at least send a message, it would be enough.'

The technician rubbed his chin. 'With the proper calibration, I think we could a holographic projection through. It would allow for direct conversation. But sending solid matter through would be too risky. The odds of it making through unscathed are too low to attempt it.'

'Alright, hook up the VR machine to the portal,' said Cage. The virtual reality machine was used primarily to communicate with other sleeper cells of rebels in case of emergencies.

'Where should we set the first link to communicate with?' the technician asked, already tapping co-ordinates into the machine's panel.

'Netherrealm,' said Sareena. 'There's someone there with a definite grudge against Sub-Zero.'

All the other occupants of the room stopped for a moment with a shiver. Cage looked over at Sareena with a scowl.

'You know that no-one likes mentioning him,' he said. 'It makes people superstitious just thinking about him.'

'He wasn't always like he is now, Cage,' she said defensively. 'He was turned into that cybernetic monstrosity against his will. I know for sure that he would never willingly submit to such a transformation.' She turned away, trying not to let anyone see the emotions flitting across her tattooed features.

Cage put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. 'I know he used to be your friend a long time ago, Sareena. But the Sub-Zero you knew is gone now. Even if we could get to him, there's no way to turn him back into a human.'

Sareena nodded grimly. 'I know. That's why we must seek out this one in Netherrealm. I know that he would sooner see Sub-Zero dead than help him, but I would rather have him dead than continue to be a monster.'

Cage nodded and turned to the technicians. 'You heard the woman. Set it for Netherrealm. And suit me up.'

Ten minutes later, Cage was in a skin-tight suit with a complicated mechanical visor covering his face, encased inside a glass chamber filled with projection lights.

'I never did like using this thing,' he grumbled. 'Makes me feel like I'm in a bad motion capture movie.'

'Would you rather one of us conducted the negotiations?' Chameleon said pointedly.

'…Good point,' said Cage. His fellow leaders were not famous for their interpersonal skills.

'Standby, sir,' called the head technician. 'Activating dimensional gateway.'

The ring of the machine began to glow with an eerie red energy, which expanded into the middle of the circle. It looked duller than Cage had imagined, probably due to the low power of the core they had recovered.

'Activating VR projector,' the technician announced.

'Good luck, Cage,' Sareena said. 'Try to be polite; he has a rather short fuse if you piss him off.'

'Since when do I piss people off?' Cage said indignantly.

'Do you really want us to answer that?' returned Chameleon.

Cage would have responded with a snappy one liner, but before he could, the VR machine whirred into life and a bright light flashed in front of his eyes. When it cleared, he found himself in a Japanese style dojo. Looking down on himself, he saw he was dressed in his normal street gear, albeit slightly transparent.

_At least they were considerate enough to blank out that suit_ he thought.

'Who are you, intruder?' came a rough voice from behind him.

Turning around, Cage saw an imposing man dressed in yellow coloured ninja gear, with a distinctive arachnid symbol on his belt clasp. His eyes were blank white; no pupils or irises were visible.

Cage bowed respectfully. 'Curtis Cage of Earthrealm. Do I have the honour of addressing the great Scorpion?'

'Save your empty flattery, mortal,' Scorpion said. 'It doesn't suit you and you have nothing to gain by using it.'

Slightly put out, Cage straightened himself. 'Ok, bad ice breaker. Sorry.'

Scorpion folded his arms. 'What do you want? I have little time for interruptions.'

'I have come from Earthrealm to ask for your help in combating the Lin Kuei,' Cage said quickly. The more information he could pack into less words, the more likely the impatient ninja before him would listen.

'The Lin Kuei? Since when are they a threat to anyone?' Scorpion said disbelievingly. 'That ragtag band of traitors hide in their caves with their experiments. They aren't worth my time.'

'Not anymore,' Cage said. 'The Lin Kuei have conquered Earthrealm and have imposed marshal law. The people are oppressed and cyborgs control all our lives. We have a resistance movement, but we need help in defeating their leaders.'

'Earthrealm is not my concern,' Scorpion said, turning away. 'There is no reason why I should help you.'

'There is,' Cage called after him. 'One of the leaders is Sub-Zero!'

Scorpion stopped in his tracks. He looked back at Cage without fully turning around. 'Your lies will not convince me, human. I took my revenge on Sub-Zero a long time ago. He is dead, dead and gone.'

'You obviously didn't do a very good job then,' Cage responded, 'because Sub-Zero is alive, and he's been made stronger and colder by his clan. If anyone could defeat him, it would be you.'

Scorpion looked thoughtful for a moment, then a look of realisation spread across his face.

'I see now. You have just given me even more reason not to help you. To do so would be to break a vow I made long ago, and despite what people would say about me, I still have my honour. Leave now, Curtis Cage, for you will find no aid from me.'

'Wait, what are you saying?' Cage asked. This didn't make any sense.

'I'm saying that you should leave,' Scorpion said. 'Now.'

'I'm not leaving until I get answers!'

Scorpion reached up and pulled off his mask. With it went the skin on his face, revealing a skull surrounded by hellfire.

'I said LEAVE!' he roared, a spout of fire streaming from his mouth towards Cage.

'Recall!' shouted Cage, activating the code word for the VR machine, pulling himself back to the rebel headquarters.

* * *

The VR visor lifted itself from Cage's face with a pneumatic hiss. Cage allowed himself a deep breath of air.

'So? Has he agreed to help us?' Sareena asked.

'No. No he hasn't,' Cage said, rubbing his eyes. 'That Scorpion fellow is one major psycho. Even if he wanted to help us, I don't think we would have been able to trust him.'

'He wasn't interested in attacking Sub-Zero?' Sareena said in disbelief.

'The way he puts it, he's already killed him and made a vow to not do so again. Further proof the man is insane.'

Sareena looked confused. 'That makes no sense at all.'

'That's what I thought,' Cage agreed. 'So scratch Scorpion off the list of our potential allies. Where to next?'

'Edenia,' Chameleon said. 'There are those there with strong ties to Earthrealm that should be more than willing to help us.'

Cage nodded. 'Fire it up.'

* * *

**A/N: **Hey y'all. Just wanted to say thanks for the encouragement, esp from Basilissa. For all you non-MK fans out there who may get confused at what Scorpion was talking about, the thing to remember is that there are two Sub-Zero's in the MK universe: the original and his younger brother (who is one featured in this story). Scorpion sought revenge on the original SZ for killing him, but vowed not to harm the younger Sub-Zero. In addition, Sareena is confused because she only knew the original Sub-Zero, who was dead by the time she returned from Netherrealm. (Yeah, I did my homework extensively for this one :P). More cyborg action next chapter! Cya.


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